Shoe cover with static electricity discharge means



F. W. ZIPF Ill June 4, 1968 SHOE COVER WITH STATIC ELECTRICITY DISCHARGE MEANS Filed July 6, 1966 INVENTOR. 5350mm w. ZIPF III United States Patent 3,387,180 SHOE COVER WITH STATIC ELECTRICITY DISCHARGE MEANS Frederick W. Zipf III, Rnmson, N.J., assignor, by mesne assignments, to American Hospital Supply Corporation, Evanston, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed July 6, 1966, Ser. No. 563,230

8 Claims. (Cl. 317-2) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A shoe cover composed of side sections of paper or other foldable sheet material secured together along certain edges to define a rearwardly and upwardly opening pocket for receiving a wearers foot. The length of the cover is substantially greater than that of the shoe to be received therein and the cover is provided with a pair of upwardly extending and vertically elongated wing portions which are disposed behind a wearers shoe when such shoe is fully inserted into the pocket. After insertion of the shoe, the wing portions are folded forwardly across the front of a wearers ankle to enclose the ankle and to cover the rear portion of the shoe, the free end portions of the wings being secured together to hold the shoe cover in place.

This invention relates to an electrically-conductive shoe cover especially adapted for use in hospital operating rooms. While the invention is applicable to covers of the reusable type, it is particularly applicable to the construction of disposable shoe covers formed of paper or other relatively inexpensive materials.

While disposable conductive shoe covers for hospital use are currently available, such covers are relatively diflicult or awkward to fit over the shoes of wearers. Such difliculty arises to a large extent from the attempt by manufacturers to achieve eificiency and economy by providing one universal size of cover or, at most, only a very limited number of cover sizes, for all wearers. As a result, such covers being formed of paper and designed to receive even the largest size shoes, must be folded about the shoes of an average-size wearer to achieve even an approximate fit. Various means, such as elastic bands, are used -to maintain the covers in folded condition and, in total, the steps of fitting, folding, and then manipulating the attachment means, may require considerable time and effort by users to master and execute.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a shoe cover which overcomes the aforementioned defects and disadvantages of conventional covers and, specifically, which is uncomplicated in construction and which may be simply and quickly slipped upon a wearers foot. A further object is to provide a conductive shoe cover which may be formed inexpensively of paper and which may be easily torn or otherwise removed from a wearers foot and then disposed of after a single wearing by incineration or otherwise.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shoe cover having an enlarged foot-receiving opening and which may be slipped upon the foot in much the same way as a conventional slipper, thereafter being securable upon the foot by attachment means which extend across the wearers instep. Therefore, despite its novel construction, such a cover may be fitted in a sequence of steps not totally unlike the sequence of steps involved in fitting a conventional shoe or slipper upon the foot, with the result that such a cover may be easily fitted over a wearers shoe without practice or special instructions.

Another important object is to provide a shoe cover which may be properly fitted over shoes of a wide range of sizes. Consequently, the cover may be provided in only one size for effective and comfortable use by wearers having a wide variety of foot sizes.

Still another object is to provide a shoe cover of relatively simple construction having two side pieces secured together to define an enlarged opening into which a wearers foot may he slipped, the portions of the cover defining such opening thereafter becoming the fastening means for holding the cover securely and comfortably in place.

Other objects will appear from the specification and drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a shoe cover embodying the present invention, the cover being shown in fitted condition upon a wearers foot;

FIGURE 2 is a cross sectional view taken along line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view showing the cover in unfitted condition.

Referrnig to FIGURE 3, the shoe cover of the present invention essentially comprises a pair of side pieces or sections 10 and 11 of substantially identical configuration, and an electrically-conductive strip 13 secured to the joined side pieces. While the side pieces may be formed of any tough and readily pliable or bendable sheet material suitable for use in hospitals and the like, paper has been found to be a particularly effective fabricating material. Such paper should be relatively soft and pliable, yet be tough and have high wet strength and, preferably, be substantially waterproof or at least moisture resistant. The strip or tape 13 may be formed of a tough paper or cloth which has been treated by the impregnation of carbon black therein, or by other suitable means, to be electrically conductive. The purpose of the strip is to conduct electricity from a wearer to the floor surface and thereby avoid the possibility of a static build up which might present a serious hazard in an operating room where highly explosive gases may be used. Where the shoe cover is to be used in an environment which presents no explosion dangers and where static build up is not objectionable, conductive strip 13 may of course be eliminated.

The two side pieces 10 and 11 are secured together along their bottom and front edges 14 and 1S and along the front portions of their top edges "16. It will be noted that the rear portions of the top edges 17 are left unsecured, as are the rear edges 18 of the cover. The result is a boot or cover defining a shoe receiving pocket or cavity 19 which poens upwardly and rearwardly through enlarged opening 20.

The side pieces of the cover may be secured together along the edge portions described above by any suitable connecting means. In the illustration given, the pieces are joined by a line of stitching 21 which also passes through conductive strip 13 and which secures a substantial portion of that strip along nearly the full length of the bottom edges of the side pieces. If desired, however, the side pieces may be adhesively secured together, or may be permanently joined in any other appropriate manner.

In FIGURE 3 it will be observed that each side piece of the cover is provided at its rear end with an enlarged upstanding flap or wing portion 22. Each wing portion is defined by rear edge 18, leading edge 23, and terminal upper edge 24 and, as shown most clearly in FIGURE 3, preferably tapers upwardly from its point of merger with the remainder of the side piece. The outwardly facing surface of one wing portion has a substantial area thereof coated with a suitable pressure sensitive adhesive material 25, and the inwardly facing surface of the other wing portion is similarly coated at 26 with a similar adhesive material. More desirably, such material is cohesive in nature, such as rubber cement, so that the coated portions of the respective wings or flaps will bond to each other but will not attach to other surfaces, although other materials :for bonding the flaps together upon surface contact with each other may be used. It is important, however, that the bonding material upon the flaps extend over a substantial area of at least one of such flaps so that the extent of overlap may be selected to produce a snug fit of the cover about the foot and ankle of a wearer, regardless of his foot or shoe size.

The length of the shoe cover, measured from the extreme front thereof to rear edge 18, substantially exceeds the length of the largest shoe intended to be received therein. Specifically, the length of the cover exceeds the length of such a shoe by a figure which approximates the maximum width of each fiap or wing portion 25. Therefore, when the cover is properly worn, a wearers shoe fits between side pieces and .11 within the portion of the cover indicated by numeral 27 in FIGURE 3. The rear section 28 of the cover, including win-g portions 22, becomes the heel and ankle enclosing section of the boot as the wing portions are drawn forwardly and overlapped across the front of a wearers ankle or the upper portion of his instep as illustrated in FIGURE 1.

The vertical length of each wing portion 22, as represented by each rear edge 18 in FIGURE 3, substantially exceeds one half of the circumference of a wearers ankle. Therefore, after a wearers shoe has been inserted into the cover through opening 20, the free ends of the wing portions 22 may be readily overlapped in front of the wearers ankle and the adhesive areas 25 and 26- may be brought into contact to maintain the win-g portions in such overlapping relationship. By so folding the wing portions, the rear portion of bottom edge 14 of the shoe cover is turned upwardly and brought snugly against the heel portion of the wearers shoe. In addition, the rear edges 18 of the side pieces become the top edge of the fully fitted cover which encircles the lower portion of a wearers leg directly above the ankle, as illustrated in FIGURE 1. Since the wearer, as a first step in placing the cover upon his foot, previously urged his foot forwardly asfar as it would go into the cavity 19 of the shoe cover, and since rearward movement of the shoe within the fully fitted cover is prevented by the upwardly folded portion 28 and by the adhesively secured wing portions 22, the cover or boot is maintained snugly upon the wearers foot. It is believed apparent that such snugness of fit may be readily achieved despite a wide variety of shoe and foot sizes, as long as in each case the wearer first slips his foot forwardly into the cover as far as it will go and then pulls the rear portion of the boot or cover upwardly and forwardly against his heel and secures it in such a position by means of the adhesive-coated overlapping wing portions.

As previously mentioned, conductive tape 13 is necessary when the shoe cover is to be used in the operating room or in any environment where static build up is to be avoided. The free end of the tape 13 is simply inserted between the wearers leg and his stocking, as shown in FIGURE 1, so that there is a direct path of electrical conductivity between the Wearers skin and a floor surface. The wearer is therefore fully grounded, and any electrical charges which might otherwise accumulate are drained off through the conductive tape.

While in the foregoing I have disclosed an embodiment of the invention in considerable detail for purposes of illustration, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that many of these details may be varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

1 claim:

'1. A shoe cover having side sections of foldable sheet material connected together along the covers bottom and front edges and along the front portion of its top edge to define a rearwardly and upwardly opening pocket for receiving a wearers foot; said cover having a length measured along said bottom edge substantially greater than the largest size shoe adapted to be fitted within said cover; said side sections having at their rear ends a pair of wing portions projecting upwardly a substantial distance above the level of said connected front portions of said top edges and adapted to be disposed behind a wearers shoe when such shoe is fully inserted into said pocket; said wing portions having free rear edges and being foldable forwardly across the front of a wearers ankle to enclose the rear portion of a wearers shoe and to cover the ankle; and means provided by said wing portions for securing the same together in overlapping relation about a wearers ankle.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said means comprises a layer of contact adhesive material upon each wing portion of said cover.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which the combined length of said wing portions substantially exceeds the circumference of a wearers ankle.

4. The structure of claim 1 in which each of said side sections is formed of a pliable paper.

5. The structure of claim 1 in which a flexible electrically-conductive tape is secured to said cover along said bottom edges of said side sections, said tape having an elongated free end portion adapted to be brought into contact with the leg of a wearer.

6. A disposable shoe cover comprising a pair of substantially identical side pieces formed of tough pliable paper having high'wet strength characteristics, said side pieces having bottom and front edges joined together and having front portions of their top edges joined together to define a rearwardly and upwardly opening pocket for receiving a wearers foot, said side pieces having at their rear ends a pair of wing portions extending upwardly from said joined bottom edges to a point substantially above the level of said joined front edge portions, said side pieces exclusive of said wing portions each having a length approximating the length of the largest shoe adapted to be received in said pocket, said upstanding wing portions having combined vertical dimensions exceeding the circumference of a wearers ankle and being adapted to be extended forwardly about the frontof the ankle of a wearer, the rear portion of said cover being foldable upwardly and forwardly into a position wherein the joined bottom edges at the rear of said side pieces are disposed in substantially vertical position against the back of a wearers heel when said wing portions are extended forwardly about the front of the ankle of a wearer, and means provided by said wing portions for securing the same in overlapping relation about a wearers ankle.

7. The structure of claim 6 in which said means comprises an adhesive coating on one side of each wing portion, the coated sides of said wing portions facing in the same direction when said wing portions extendupwardly and being disposed in facing relation when said wing portions are overlapped about a wearers ankle.

8. The structure of claim 6 inwhich said cover includes an electrically-conductive strip secured to said side pieces along the bottom edges thereof, said strip having an elongated free end portion extending beyond said wing portions and adapted to be placed in direct contact with a wearers leg when said cover is worn.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1964 Whitton 3172 8/1966 Saraceni et a1 3172 

